Attack 'was so scary'

Street abductions of women, rapes on the rise.

Street abductions of women, rapes on the rise.

April 15, 2006|TOM MOOR Tribune Staff Writer

A 27-year-old South Bend woman walking home from her sister's house late in the night recently did something she says she will never do again: She accepted a ride from a stranger. It was 12:30 a.m. March 30, and she was all alone near the corner of McCartney Street and Portage Avenue in South Bend. "I didn't know the person, so it was very stupid to get in the car," said the woman, who did not want her name published. What she thought was a nice gesture from the man driving the sports car quickly turned into a nightmare for her. "He started calling me every name," she said. They weren't far from the woman's home on Diamond Avenue in South Bend when the man instead drove to an alley behind a vacant house in the 1300 block of Elwood Avenue, turned to her and asked her to perform oral sex on him. She told him no and got out of the car. The suspect then approached her and hit her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. The man again asked her to perform oral sex, and when she said no, the suspect hit her in the face three times. "It was so scary, I didn't know what to do," the woman said this week. The woman then said she would do it for him, hoping it would calm him down and allow her to escape. When the man was getting back in the vehicle -- thinking she was also getting back in -- she was able to get away. "I ran to Martin's (Super Market on Elwood Avenue) and started banging on the windows until someone came out," she said. Police arrived on the scene of the closed business shortly afterward and noticed swelling on her right cheek. The woman had lost her coat, purse and glasses. Unsettling trend Some women are simply grabbed from a sidewalk and thrown into a car. Women are the most common victims of this crime -- which usually happens at night when women are walking alone, according to a report. South Bend Police Department officials said cases like that are rare in this area, but they're happening more often than normal recently. Since March 7, at least five cases have been documented in the South Bend area where women have either been kidnapped off the street and pulled into a car or assaulted once they are in a stranger's car. It has happened four times since March 30. "Five in one month I think is out of the norm," said Cpl. Aaron Cassel with the South Bend Police Crime Prevention Unit. "A lot of times it's an isolated incident, but it's always a concern," said Capt. John Williams of the South Bend Police Department. "But even with one incident, we always hope it doesn't lead to a second or third incident." On almost every occasion, the victim was walking close to home. Some of the women in these cases were raped -- some repeatedly -- while others were able to get away at the last second. According to police reports, rapes are on the rise in South Bend this year. Ten rapes were reported in the city in March, compared to two during that month last year. For the year, 23 rapes have been reported, compared to 12 at this time a year ago. How it can happen The following are brief accounts from police records of a few of the recent incidents. This is information police officers have gathered from talking to the women shortly their assaults. Police do not believe they have caught the men responsible for any of these acts. -About 2:30 p.m. April 3, a Mishawaka woman in her 30s told police she was standing in the 500 block of Mishawaka Avenue waiting for a food pantry to open. Two men pulled up out of nowhere in a pickup truck, grabbed her and forced her into the vehicle. The victim was then taken to four different crack houses on the southeast side of South Bend, where she was forced to disrobe and allow men to grope her. She was also forced to perform oral sex on some of the men in the houses, who gave the suspects free crack cocaine for bringing the woman with them. About 7 a.m. the next day, she heard one of the abductors ask another whether it was 7 a.m. yet and if they could eat at the Hope Rescue Mission. Three men drove there with the woman and were standing outside the Hope Rescue Mission waiting to eat when an employee noticed the victim crying. Once inside, the victim told the woman she was having problems and needed to get home. The employee walked her to the bus stop and watched her get on. The victim later said she did not think about reporting the crime at the time because she wanted to get home. Later in the day police was called. -After an argument with her fiancé on March 7, a Mishawaka woman said she went for a walk to her sister-in-law's house in South Bend. She didn't make it that far. About 7 p.m., two men came up from behind her -- while she was still in Mishawaka -- threw a cover over her head and placed her in their vehicle, despite her struggling to break free. The suspects drove the woman to an unknown location and put her in a small, dark room. It was there, she later told police, that she was raped at least five times before losing consciousness. When the woman woke up, she said she was fully clothed in Leeper Park in South Bend. The woman was treated at an area hospital. -A 19-year-old woman was walking toward Cleveland Road in South Bend -- an exact location is not known -- about 12:15 a.m. April 10 when she was thrown in the trunk of a car. She said six males were involved. She later told police she was not sure how she got in the car and did not go into detail about what had happened. Her husband told police the suspects took pictures of her half-naked on her cell phone and sent them to him. The husband called police. She was eventually able to escape by biting through her restraints and kicking at her kidnappers. She told an officer conflicting reports about whether she had been raped when they found her in the 1800 block of Sherman Avenue. -Four men pulled up to a 16-year-old South Bend girl shortly after 6:30 p.m. April 7 in the 1700 block of O'Brien Street and forced her into a black car. After kicking and screaming, the victim was able to break free from the men and run to a friend's house for help. The girl said she heard a gunshot coming from the direction of the vehicle as she ran, but it was unclear whether the shot was aimed at her or fired into the air. She was uninjured. The four men were all wearing black jackets, and the driver had gray hair and a goatee. What you should know The woman who accepted a ride from a stranger said she never wants to be in that situation again. She doesn't want other women to experience that horror, either. "I never thought it could happen to me," she said. "My advice to other women is they should try and carry something (a weapon), and don't get in a car with a stranger. And they should stay off the streets at night." Cassel said women should always be aware of their surroundings, especially when they are walking alone. "They need to be cautious about where they are," he said. "Don't get in a car, and be aware of surroundings. It helps to be in a safe place and to be able to knock on a neighbor's door to get attention."